The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Councilmember Ryan Keim, the only opponent of Mayor Esther Sanchez, for the city’s top elected position in November. Most San Diego County chambers of commerce choose not to endorse local candidates. Instead, they host forums where the candidates outline their views on the issues. Oceanside takes the opposite approach. “We believe that if we want to have pro-business policies, we need to help pro-business policy-makers get elected to office,” Chamber CEO Scott Ashton said last week. “In my opinion, forums do not accomplish this,” he said. “While endorsing candidates is not common among chambers in San Diego County, it is very common in other areas of our state and beyond.” The chamber’s political action committee recommended Keim based on his “positive track record on the issues” since he was elected in 2020, Ashton said. The Chamber’s board approved the recommendation. Ashton declined to comment on Sanchez’s performance as mayor, and said, “The Chamber is totally committed to sticking to positive messaging on the election.” Sanchez has been on the Oceanside City Council since she was first elected in 2000. She was first elected mayor in 2020, when she received 29 percent of the vote and defeated her closest opponent by more than 11 percentage points in a field of 12 candidates. Keim was first appointed to the council in January 2019. He went on to win a full term in 2020 with 38 percent of the vote, edging out his nearest opponent in a field of six by a little more than 3 percentage points. Sanchez said she was “shocked and really disappointed” by the decision to endorse her opponent. “I worked so very much with the Chamber,” Sanchez said. “Sometimes I do feel invisible.” Keim tends to support big business and big developers, she said, while she tries to support small businesses and efforts affiliated with local residents. “Our chamber thinks it owes its allegiance to the outside interests and not the locals,” Sanchez said. “It’s just not good for the city.” Keim said he’s proud to have the chamber’s endorsement, which he also had during his 2020 campaign for the council. “We really worked with the Chamber on a lot of the businesses,” Keim said. The worst of the COVID-19 pandemic came soon after he took office, he said. With the Chamber’s assistance, Oceanside followed all orders from the state and county, moved businesses such as restaurants outdoors, and started emergency food programs and other assistance for residents and businesses. A former Oceanside police officer, Keim said he’s also been endorsed for mayor by the city’s police and fire associations, as well as other law enforcement groups across the county. Sanchez has been endorsed by labor unions, Democratic clubs, and a chapter of the Sierra Club. Sanchez often clashes with Keim and others on the council. She’s been the only “no” vote on a number of large development projects where most council members said that state law left them no choice but approval. Last month, for example, Sanchez was the sole outlier when the council overturned its previous denial of a relatively small,13-home project in the city’s old Loma Alta neighborhood, based on recent minor modifications. Keim and Councilmember Rick Robinson both criticized her position and said she sided with residents only as a political stance. Sanchez did not respond at the time. Later she said she’s more interested in what’s best for the community than what’s dictated by Sacramento. The Chamber also endorsed incumbent Councilmember Peter Weiss, a long-time city employee and former Oceanside city manager, based on his record in office. Weiss was appointed mayor in January 2018 after then-Mayor Jim Wood resigned because of poor health. Weiss then was elected the District 4 councilmember in 2020. In District 3, soon to be vacated by Keim, the Chamber endorsed Laura Bassett based on interviews with four district candidates. Bassett is an Oceanside native, a graduate of El Camino High School and the University of Southern California and a real estate broker since 2007.